


little things

by vokdas



Category: SF9 (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, bangtan are there and half of them are teachers, chani and hwiyoung are the same age in this, it’s just a lot of fluff and a little angst, so it spans from high school to college, sorry i don’t have excuses for any of this, taeyang is only a year older than them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-04-30 15:09:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14499708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vokdas/pseuds/vokdas
Summary: Hwiyoung doesn’t understand crushes. He is a stronger man than that, surely, because he’ll never gush over anyone the way Youngbin gushes over the cute guy in his music theory class, and he’ll never dote on anyone the way Inseong and Jaeyoon had doted on each other prior to getting together.Then he meets Yoo Taeyang, and suddenly crushes make complete sense.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> a story based on my unfortunate love life, enjoy
> 
> (also sorry this is so damn americanized yikes please let me know if i didn’t explain the math classes well enough)

Being one of the younger ones in his friend group means that even before going into BC Calc, Hwiyoung already has a pretty good idea of what Mr. Kim is going to be like: an extremely strict teacher and, simultaneously, a completely unabashed gay. Apparently being so gay doesn’t quite take away the stick lodged impressively high up his ass, though, because Hwiyoung had been a firsthand witness of Seokwoo leaving the Calc classroom in tears just two years ago.

Despite that, Hwiyoung supposes he should be glad Mr. Kim isn’t as mean as the Calc teacher who had come before him, because a couple of years before Seokwoo’s episode, Hwiyoung had also watched Inseong have a mental breakdown over his ridiculously heavy load of Calc homework. Of course, Inseong had ended up passing the class with flying colors, because he’s one of the smartest people Hwiyoung has ever met. Hwiyoung’s friends tend to overreact a little bit.

So, yeah, Hwiyoung’s has heard a lot of things about the BC Calc teacher, but somehow everyone has neglected to mention that, one, he’s hot, and two, he’s not much older than the students themselves. He looks younger than Inseong, even, although Inseong is kind of old anyway. Hwiyoung’s nerves are already starting to get the best of him by the time the bell rings to announce the start of the last class of the first day of school. Mr. Kim doesn’t even acknowledge the bell, just continues making his coffee. Why does he even have a coffee machine in his classroom?

“Isn’t Mr. Kim an ass?” he hears the boy behind him ask.

“That’s what everyone from the past years said,” another boy says. “Did you hear how he gave someone a negative score on a test?”

“Who’s you hear that from?”

“Juho-hyung.”

“You believe him?”

“It was his test.”

“Oh.”

Hwiyoung turns to his right, already opening his mouth to speak before he remembers that Chani had bombed the placement test at the end of last year and ended up in AB Calc with the vast majority of the other juniors instead of in BC with Hwiyoung and the remaining five or six others. Hwiyoung misses him already, but he’s a little jealous, too, because the AB Calc teacher is Mr. Min, who’s super cool and modern even though he hates teaching and is only in it to make some money before he can afford to pursue the music career he so clearly craves. Besides, everyone knows he likes the students more than he lets on.

And then there’s the other Mr. Kim, who is the scary Mr. Kim’s fiancé, and he teaches Statistics, only this Mr. Kim is even cooler than Mr. Min. He lets everyone call him Jin, although he’s getting kind of old – meaning he’s definitely older than Inseong, who by Hwiyoung’s standards is already halfway to his deathbed – and all the students love him despite his constant stream of dad jokes. Too bad his class is for all the kids who flunk the placement test even worse than Chani did.

Hwiyoung is dragged back to reality by the beeping of the coffee machine, which prompts Mr. Kim to turn in his spinny chair and take the plain brown mug, although he still doesn’t get up; he just sits and sips, surveying all of the students with disdain clear on his face. He’s assigned their seats so that everyone is in alphabetical order, so Hwiyoung is surrounded by seniors. He’s disappointed but not surprised, and yet lack of surprise never really takes the biting edge off of disappointment.

Finally Mr. Kim sets down his coffee cup and, sighing, gets up to walk to the front of the classroom. Everyone’s eyes follow him as he goes; Hwiyoung finds himself holding his breath with how silent the room is. He exhales slowly, unzipping his pencil bag and taking out a dark blue pen. Mr. Kim is still scrutinizing them.

“My name is Kim Namjoon,” he says. “I would welcome you all to BC Calculus, but I’m sure you’ve all heard your share of horror stories about this class, so I’ll spare you both the fluff and the gory details.”

The silence stretches on, and Hwiyoung fidgets with his pen. He’s careful not to click it, because Chani yells at him all the time about it being annoying, although it’s a bad habit he’s spent forever trying to drop. Mr. Kim would probably have his head for it.

Mr. Kim points at the syllabus he’s taped to the whiteboard, not that any of them can see it with how tiny the print is and how far away they’re sitting. “We’re going to start with some ground rules. You are to call me Mr. Kim and nothing else. Past students have been under the impression that they could get away with nicknames just because they’ve failed enough grades to be my age or older.” His gaze flickers to the bearded student sitting in the back of the room who’s infamous for having failed senior year three or four times. “Those students were sorely mistaken.”

Behind Hwiyoung, someone snorts. For a second, Hwiyoung wonders if Mr. Kim is going to kill them, but the man just ignores the noise and goes back to his speech.

“If you see me outside of school, you will not acknowledge or speak to me,” he says. “In this class, you will not curse, shout, speak without raising your hand, listen to music with or without earbuds, smile, laugh, or make jokes. This classroom is a place of misery and fear. You will not spoil it with happiness of any kind.”

Hwiyoung can’t tell if he’s joking, but he really, really hopes he’s joking.

Mr. Kim doesn’t look like he’s joking.

Hwiyoung is going to kill Chani for not doing well enough to have to endure this hell with him.


	2. Chapter 2

“He can’t be that bad,” Chani says when Hwiyoung complains to him that night over the phone. “Maybe you’re just being overdramatic again.”

Hwiyoung refuses to acknowledge that that happens as embarrassingly often as Chani claims it does. “You don’t get it. Mr. Kim is, like, the devil.”

“Okay, sure.” Chani sounds skeptical, and Hwiyoung is indignant. “Didn’t you have that one really awful Chem teacher last year, what’s her name – ”

“The one who slept with all the students and got fired?” Hwiyoung guesses, because he can’t remember her name either. Actually, there’s not much he can remember about last year, which unfortunately includes a lot of the actual education part. He’s not sure how he’s going to get through this coming year, if he’s being honest.

“Probably,” Chani says. “Wasn’t she, like, shit?”

“Yeah.” That’s putting it lightly. Hwiyoung picks at the label he’s just slapped on his math notebook before catching himself and smoothing it back down; it’s another bad habit he can’t quite get rid of, and he seems to be full of those. “She couldn’t teach. At all.”

“Exactly, so this is an improvement, isn’t it?” Chani says. “Mr. Kim is the best teacher at our school. Everyone knows that.”

Hwiyoung groans. “Yeah, I know. He’s just – he’s really mean, I guess? Like, he told us we’re not allowed to smile or laugh in his class because it’s supposed to be a place of depression and he doesn’t want us to spoil it with happiness.”

Chani laughs – cackles, more like. Hwiyoung wants to smack him in the face. “Was that a direct quote?”

“Probably not,” Hwiyoung admits. “I’ve kind of already tried to wipe my memory of ever stepping foot in his class.”

“Your fault for being smart,” Chani tells him.

“No need to rub it in, you know.”

“I know. It’s just fun.”

“I hate you.”

“You hate everything.”

Hwiyoung groans again and flops backward onto his bed. “I hate everything,” he agrees.

“Sucks for you, loser.”

“Bet you had a much better time with Mr. Min.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s great,” Chani says. “He told us at the beginning of class that high schoolers suck and that he doesn’t like any of us. Then he showed us his mixtape.”

“Was it fire?”

“Yes, it was.”

Hwiyoung doesn’t know what to say after that, so he says, “I wish you were on fire.”

“That’s the goal,” Chani says very seriously. “Anyway, I went to Seokwoo hyung’s house to steal his food earlier and some dude was already over there and he fucking petted me.”

“He _what_ – ”

“Exactly!” Chani says. “And he said he was hyung’s partner for some project, but he looked like a pedophile. I don’t trust him.”

“Did you hit him?”

“No, but only because Seokwoo-hyung was flirting with him.”

“I thought you said he looked like a pedophile.”

“Seokwoo-hyung didn’t seem to think so.”

Hwiyoung makes a face although he knows Chani can’t see it. “Ew.”

Chani snorts. “Ew, indeed. Hyung definitely has a crush.”

Hwiyoung doesn’t understand crushes. He is a stronger man than that, surely, because he’ll never gush over anyone the way Youngbin gushes over the cute guy in his music theory class, and he’ll never dote on anyone the way Inseong and Jaeyoon had doted on each other prior to getting together. That’s just gross.

Even if it weren’t, it’s wildly unrealistic, because Inseong and Jaeyoon have now been dating for almost six years anyway, and there’s no doubt that they’re made for each other. They’re perfectly attuned to each other’s needs and have never wavered in their faith in each other, even way back at the beginning of their relationship when Jaeyoon was still a senior and Inseong had had to go away for college. It had been rough for a while, especially since Hwiyoung was the main recipient of Jaeyoon’s constant whining about missing his boyfriend, but they had coped, and Jaeyoon had ended up going to a college near Inseong’s – not the same one, but close enough that they got to see each other every day. Things had gone back to normal.

Now, Jaeyoon is in his last year of college and the two of them have moved in together into a cute little apartment that’s a three hour drive to them from where Hwiyoung is. Sometimes he misses them terribly, because the two of them have practically been his older brothers since he was in middle school, but he’s happy for them. Their relationship is the kind of relationship that he would aspire to have, if he cared enough about feelings. Thankfully, though, he doesn’t.

Besides, even with Inseong and Jaeyoon gone, he still has Seokwoo and Chani to keep him company. Hwiyoung appreciates them with all of his heart, although he would never admit it. Chani would tease him to no end if he found out.

Presently, Chani has gone quiet at the other end of the line. Hwiyoung figures he’s fallen asleep, so he hangs up with only a whispered goodnight just for the sake of it and lets out a long breath as he sets his phone down. They can talk more at school tomorrow.

Hwiyoung is not one to place much emphasis on feeling, but sometimes the quiet does fuel the ache in his chest, and the loneliness does tend to grow too stifling.


	3. Chapter 3

By just the second day of school, four seniors and one junior have transferred out of BC Calc. The class has shrunk to only nineteen students, and the seat to Hwiyoung’s right happens to now be empty. For some reason, the makes him feel even more caged in than he had before, but the other remaining juniors look just as nervous, so at least Hwiyoung isn’t the only one. Mr. Kim looks smug, like he’s glad to have scared off so many students already, and if his reputation is anywhere close to true he probably is.

Hwiyoung is already in his seat with his notebook and two blue pens laid out on his desk when the door opens and in walks a senior Hwiyoung recognizes immediately: tall, curly-haired Yoo Taeyang, one of the popular kids with a reputation for being from an impossibly rich family. They don’t run in the same or even similar circles; he’s friends with all the kids Hwiyoung has always been too anxious to even try talking to. Hwiyoung tends to stick to himself and to people like himself, anyway.

(Take Inseong, for example. He’d been a massive nerd all the way up until halfway through his sophomore year, when he’d hit puberty and become a total heartthrob. Jaeyoon had been something like that, too, and while Seokwoo had always been popular, he had approached Hwiyoung first.

Granted, it was just help out, because at nine years old Hwiyoung had been tiny and an ideal target for the little fifth-grade bullies. He supposes that means that Seokwoo must have had pity on him, because he’d stuck around for years after that. Even with Seokwoo off in college an hour away, they’re still good friends.)

Taeyang is talking to Mr. Kim now, looking impressively unfazed, showing him a piece of paper that looks like his class schedule. Hwiyoung figures he’d had his schedule messed up and been put in the wrong math class or something like that; Mr. Kim seems a little annoyed, but he looks up over all the empty seats before settling on the desk beside Hwiyoung’s in the back row and points Taeyang there. Taeyang just smiles and makes his way over to his new seat as the bell rings. Mr. Kim begins making his coffee again, and Hwiyoung keeps his gaze glued resolutely to his pens.

“Hey, I’m Taeyang,” Taeyang says brightly, plopping down into his seat. Hwiyoung feels his cheeks burn as his plan to ignore the senior is foiled. “What’s your name?”

“Hwiyoung,” Hwiyoung says, cringing when his voice comes out sounding way too small.

“Nice to meet you,” Taeyang says. “Are you a junior?”

Hwiyoung isn’t sure why Taeyang is talking to him when there are seniors in the seats both in front of him and to his right that he probably already knows. Hwiyoung can’t bring himself to make eye contact, but he nods.

“I thought so,” Taeyang says. He seems totally unfazed by Hwiyoung’s wordless response. “I’ve never really talked to you before. You’re Seokwoo-hyung’s friend, right?”

Hwiyoung nods again and, not wanting to seem rude, makes himself respond verbally. “Yeah, uh. How’d you know?”

“Are you kidding? Juho-hyung has the biggest crush on Seokwoo-hyung, so I had to help him spy for, like, years. You were always around.” Taeyang grins. “And you’re really cute, you know. It’s not like you’re easy to miss.”

That startles Hwiyoung into tearing his gaze from the floor and looking up at him in surprise. His cheeks must on fire, if the way they’re burning is any indication. “Oh,” he says intelligently. “Uh – ”

He’s interrupted by the clink of Mr. Kim’s coffee cup being set down onto his desk, and when he turns his head to look he sees the teacher finally making his way to the front of the class. Hwiyoung turns his gaze back to his notebook and glues it there. Taeyang doesn’t say anything, but the grin has yet to leave his face; Hwiyoung thinks it’s so bright it would put the sun to shame, which does nothing to help the bright flush of his cheeks.

“I hope all of you did your homework from last night,” Mr. Kim announces, “because I’m grading this one for accuracy, not participation. Pass your homework to the front of your row.”

Hwiyoung, thankfully, had been prepared; Seokwoo had warned him that Mr. Kim graded random homework assignments throughout the year. Jaeyoon, who’d taken Mr. Min for math, had looked revolted when he’d said that.

Come to think of it, it’s not much different from the disgusted look on Taeyang’s face as he leans over toward Hwiyoung. “We had homework already?” he whispers.

Hwiyoung nods yet again and passes his homework up. “You can probably just turn it in tomorrow since you weren’t here when he assigned it,” he says earnestly, turning away. Mr. Kim looks across the room at the two of them.

“Yoo Taeyang, you may turn the assignment in tomorrow since you were absent when it was assigned,” he says. “Consult the assignment list I posted online.”

“Yes, sir,” Taeyang says, looking over at Hwiyoung to grin.

Mr. Kim starts the lesson for the day, and Hwiyoung uncaps one of his blue pens to begin diligently taking notes. Taeyang squints at the board for a moment before scooting his desk closer to Hwiyoung’s, out of line with the rest of his row. Mr. Kim eyes them but doesn’t say anything, and Hwiyoung looks over at Taeyang questioningly.

“I can’t see the board over everyone’s heads,” the senior whispers in explanation.

It’s feasible, since they’re sitting in the back row, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that that’s not all there is to it. Hwiyoung smiles a little and goes back to writing.


	4. Chapter 4

Hwiyoung will never admit to missing Seokwoo, but he misses Seokwoo, a lot. Chani does too, he knows. He won’t admit it either.

It’s not as bad as it could be. Seokwoo lives an hour away from Hwiyoung now that he’s in college, but it’s only half an hour away from Chani’s house, so they meet up there the first weekend after school starts. Seokwoo is already coddling Chani on the couch by the time Hwiyoung gets there, so it’s a stranger who opens the door to let Hwiyoung in.

Kind of a stranger, anyway. Hwiyoung has seen him around, although he can’t pinpoint exactly where from.

“Oh my God, Seokwoo, who’s this cutie?” the guy says, immediately reaching out to pet Hwiyoung on the head. Hwiyoung tries not to reflexively cringe away. “He’s like a little puppy, aw – ”

“No he’s not!” Chani shouts from the couch, where he’s got Seokwoo curled up next to him.

“Is that Hwiyoung?” Seokwoo asks, craning his head to look. Realization dawns on Hwiyoung; the stranger is Seokwoo’s pedophile project partner, the one Chani says he has a crush on. This is going to be interesting.

“Hi, hyung,” Hwiyoung says, ducking below the pedophile’s hand to let himself in. He plops down on the couch next to Seokwoo, who quickly releases Chani in favor of cuddling Hwiyoung. Chani pouts; Hwiyoung tries not to look too smug. “Who’s your friend?”

“Juho,” Seokwoo says, and just enough pink dusts over his cheeks that Hwiyoung notices, but no one else does. “He’s my lab partner for Chem. He actually used to go to our high school, too, but you probably don’t remember.”

Hwiyoung doesn’t really, but he nods anyway. “Oh,” he says, then to Juho, “I’m Hwiyoung.”

“Nice to meet you, Hwiyoung,” Juho says. He sits down on the other couch, which Hwiyoung assumes he’s just vacated, and frowns a little. “I swear I’ve heard your name before. Have we met?”

Hwiyoung thinks about it. “Not that I know of,” he says honestly.

“Maybe you’re friends with one of my friends,” Juho tries. “A senior, probably. Jeon Jeongguk? Yoo Taeyang?”

“Yeah, uh, Taeyang-hyung’s in my math class,” Hwiyoung says, feeling his cheeks burn at the mention of his new friend. He tries his best to hide it, but unless he’s just imagining the smirk on Chani’s face, he’s not doing a very good job, and Hwiyoung has never been particularly imaginative.

Seokwoo gives him a knowing look. “Got a crush, Hwi?” he teases.

“I could ask you the same,” Hwiyoung fires back. He remembers Taeyang telling him about Juho’s colossal crush on Seokwoo, too. That makes everything ten times better. Chani snorts as Seokwoo’s cheeks change from baby pink to a bright red.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Seokwoo says anyway, like he’s pretending not to be as tomato-faced as he is. “Do you like him?”

“No,” Hwiyoung says. “Taeyang-hyung is just a friend.”

That’s the truth. They’re just friends, and that’s at best; at worst, Taeyang is just the pretty senior who sits next to Hwiyoung in his seventh period. So why does he feel just a little bit bummed about it?

“I remember now!” Juho says suddenly, bolting up from the chair. Hwiyoung and Seokwoo both jump in surprise, and Juho sheepishly sits back down. “Sorry. The other day Taeyang was telling me about the cute junior in one of his classes. That was you, wasn’t it?”

Hwiyoung hopes it was, but he would die before telling them that. “I don’t know – ”

“Hwi, that’s so cute,” Seokwoo coos.

“Taeyang thinks you’re the sweetest thing,” Juho goes on. “He said you were all shy and cute. He never calls anyone cute.”

Chani snorts. “Hwiyoung is not cute.”

“Hwiyoung is precious,” Seokwoo says defensively, pulling Hwiyoung to his chest to aggressively ruffle his hair. Hwiyoung isn’t sure who he should hate more. Probably Chani.

“He’s cute,” Juho agrees, although he probably agrees with everything Seokwoo says, if his crush on Seokwoo is as gross and sappy as Taeyang claims it is. “Taeyang just usually calls people hot or sexy. ‘Cute’ was new.”

“What do you think of Taeyang, Hwi?” Seokwoo asks.

Hwiyoung buries his face in Seokwoo’s chest, groaning. “Can we – can we not talk about this?”

“No,” Chani says. Juho laughs.

“C’mon, it’s just a question,” Seokwoo says.

Hwiyoung fights the pout pulling at the corners of his lips. “Taeyang-hyung is fine,” he says.

“Fine?” Chani repeats, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“He’s nice,” Hwiyoung amends. “Stop being weird about it.”

“I’m not being weird about it, you are,” Chani argues.

“You’re both being weird about it,” Juho tells them. “But is that it, Hwiyoung? He’s just nice? Not cute or anything?”

Hwiyoung’s brows furrow although his cheeks flush yet again; he’s starting to think they have a life of their own. “I mean, I guess he’s cute. I don’t know.”

Seokwoo seems to suppress a sigh, and Juho looks like he knows something Hwiyoung doesn’t. Chani rolls his eyes a little.

“What?” Hwiyoung asks, a little frustrated.

“Nothing,” Juho says, shaking his head. “You’ll figure it out eventually.”

Hwiyoung looks over at Seokwoo, who only shrugs. Traitor.

“Okay,” Hwiyoung says. He’s still not sure what he’s missing, but he doesn’t care enough to push. They probably wouldn’t tell him if he did, anyway. “Okay, let’s play a game or something. Do you like Monopoly, Juho-hyung?”

Chani groans loudly and reaches over Seokwoo to slap Hwiyoung on the arm hard enough that it’ll probably leave a mark. “No one likes Monopoly, Hwiyoung, give it up.”

“I like Monopoly,” Juho says.

Seokwoo, who’s always hated Monopoly as much as Chani has, just smiles and says, “Okay, let’s play Monopoly.”

Hwiyoung shares a disgusted look with Chani when the no one else is looking. Seokwoo is so whipped.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is the kiNg of fillers oof

Math increases in difficulty at an alarming rate. Seokwoo really hadn’t been overreacting when he’d said Mr. Kim was the devil, and judging by Taeyang’s rapidly dropping grades, he’d probably agree to that as well. Inseong just laughs when he calls to ask about it and Hwiyoung complains, since the teacher he’d had had been even worse.

The only reason Hwiyoung thinks math is tolerable is because, despite Mr. Kim’s sadistic tendencies, he likes the subject itself so much. Chani says he’s crazy for liking it, and he figures he can’t argue. No one is actually supposed to like math.

“Do you like math?” Hwiyoung asks Taeyang one day. He’s testing the accuracy of Chani’s argument, he tells himself, not making excuses to talk to Taeyang. Nope, not that. This is for science.

Then again, Hwiyoung has always been terrible at lying to himself.

And, alright, maybe liking math isn’t the only reason Hwiyoung doesn’t hate the class; maybe having Taeyang sitting next to him pushes it from just tolerable to almost enjoyable. If he were to admit that, though, Chani would have a field day, so Hwiyoung will probably just keep it to himself.

“No,” Taeyang says, giving him a little bit of a weird look. “Why?”

“Just wondering,” Hwiyoung says. He decides against explaining the Chani situation; it’ll probably sound more stupid out loud than it already does in his head. Taeyang grins like he knows exactly what Hwiyoung is thinking, although there’s no way he could, and Hwiyoung looks to the ground quickly, feeling his cheeks flame.

He used to have such a sturdy handle over his emotions, but then Taeyang had come into the picture, and suddenly Hwiyoung has become a blushing mess. Hwiyoung isn’t quite sure what exactly happened for so much to have changed there; most of his other friends don’t have this effect on him.

Taeyang scoots his desk closer to Hwiyoung’s, out of line with his own row. No one says anything about it, including Mr. Kim, because although at first it had prompted a couple of questioning glances and raised eyebrows, by now it’s been mostly accepted as something Taeyang does every day. The thing is, he still uses the same excuse of not being able to see the board from his seat, but he’s just gotten glasses, which makes the excuse a lot more flimsy.

Hwiyoung’s not sure if that means that Taeyang just likes sitting close to him, but if it does, that’s incredibly cute. Taeyang is cute, too, in those glasses, but Hwiyoung refuses to let himself think about it. Taeyang is just a friend.

“So what’d you do over the weekend?” Taeyang asks.

“Hung out with Seokwoo-hyung,” Hwiyoung says. He’s not good with open-ended questions, never sure if he’s being too vague or giving more information than he’s being asked for. Thankfully, Taeyang never seems to have complaints about how much Hwiyoung tells him. “Juho-hyung was there. You were right about his crush.”

“I had to watch him pine over Seokwoo-hyung for pretty much all of his high school career,” Taeyang says. “I would’ve had to be blind not to be right about that. Does Seokwoo-hyung like him back, at least?”

“Yeah,” Hwiyoung tells him. “It’s disgusting.”

Taeyang laughs. “Yeah, Juho-hyung is a huge sap once you get to know him. You’d think he’s totally cool and, like, mean, but he’s not. He’s actually so sweet.”

“Yeah,” Hwiyoung says, because he doesn’t really know what else to say. Continuing conversations is another part of social interaction he’s always had trouble with. Fortunately, he’s saved from having to say anything else by the bell ringing, although Mr. Kim just continues sitting in his spinny chair and sipping his coffee, surveying the students. Hwiyoung wishes he’d stop doing that.

Taeyang leans closer to Hwiyoung, grinning. “Rumor has it Mr. Kim secretly wants to skin all of us and sell us to Americans,” he says, just low enough that only Hwiyoung will hear. “I have a bet with Sanghyuk-hyung about it – I don’t know if you know him, he’s a sophomore in college. Do you?”

Hwiyoung shakes his head, curious; Taeyang always has such positive things to say about his friends. Hwiyoung loves hearing him talk about them.

“I think you’d like him,” Taeyang says. “He’s really funny. Anyway, I bet that Mr. Kim wouldn’t skin anyone, but only because his fiancé would never let him – you know, the other Mr. Kim, the cool one. Sanghyuk-hyung bet that he’d probably skin his fiancé first if he tried to stop him, then get on with the rest of the school.”

Hwiyoung makes a face. “Ew.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Taeyang agrees. He pokes Hwiyoung’s cheek. “You’re so cute, you know.”

Hwiyoung turns away, hiding his face and the red flush that’s probably overtaken it. “Um. Thanks. Thank you. You too.”

He hears Mr. Kim scoff from where he’s sitting and mutter something about stupid gays, obviously having heard the last bit of Hwiyoung and Taeyang’s conversation, before getting up to start the lesson. Taeyang is still grinning.


	6. Chapter 6

**from: unknown** hey this is taeyang from calc

**from:** **unknown** chani gave me ur # sry if that’s creepy

Hwiyoung stares at his phone for a second, not quite sure if he should be angry or grateful. On one hand, he likes talking to Taeyang, but on the other, it would’ve been nice if Chani had consulted him before giving his number to Taeyang.

But he’s not surprised. He knows better than to expect that much from Chani.

**to** : **Taeyang** Oh hi yes this is Hwiyoung

He sets his phone down, ready to have to wait an hour for a text back the way he does with Chani. Surprisingly, though, Taeyang’s response is almost immediate.

**from** : **Taeyang** sweet!

**from:** **Taeyang** are u busy rn

**to** : **Taeyang** No why

**from:** **Taeyang** i was wondering if i could call u so we can study together for the math test??

Hwiyoung hadn’t been planning to study for the math test, but it can’t hurt. He figures reviewing the material will help him even if he already knows it fairly well.

That, and he’s yet to be able to deny Taeyang anything. He’s going to have to break that habit.

**to** : **Taeyang** Yeah if you want

**from: Taeyang** awesome :) i’ll call in like 2 mins is that ok

**to** : **Taeyang** That’s fine

True to his word, Taeyang calls in about two minutes. Upon realizing that it’s a video call and not just a voice call, Hwiyoung rushes over to the mirror and tries to tame his hair for a good thirty seconds before picking up.

“Hey,” he says, a little breathless, slumping back onto his bed.

Taeyang is wearing a hoodie that’s huge on him, his hair messy and a lazy smile on his face. He looks cute. “Hey,” he says.

Hwiyoung’s probably blushing, with his luck. He hopes not. “So. Math?”

“Yeah.”

They only review math for about fifteen minutes before the conversation steers off to their personal lives. Apparently, they’re both friends with Kim Youngbin, which is a surprise to Hwiyoung although he’s already had so much evidence of what a small world it is. Taeyang talks about his friend Sanghyuk who is going to come back from university to visit soon; Hwiyoung tells him about how he misses Inseong and Jaeyoon but won’t get to see them until they come back to visit for Chani’s birthday.

“You’ll love them,” Hwiyoung promises. “Inseong-hyung is.. he’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. And Jaeyoon-hyung is so sweet and funny – you’ll, uh, get along with him really well, I think.”

“I’m sure I will,” Taeyang says. He’s smiling a little. “You have to meet my friends too. Fair warning, though, Sanghyuk-hyung is going to flirt with you. You just have to get used to it. He means well.”

“He sounds great,” Hwiyoung says, means it. Taeyang beams at him. Hwiyoung thinks it’s incredible, the way he has so much love for everyone.

Hwiyoung has always been close with Chani and Seokwoo, but within just three weeks he’s nowhere near as touchy with them as he is with Taeyang. These days, in math Taeyang scoots his desk all the way over until it touches Hwiyoung’s; he likes to lean his head on Hwiyoung’s shoulder whenever he’s tired and play with Hwiyoung’s fingers whenever he’s bored. It’s a lot, but it’s nice.

They’re comfortable. Hwiyoung has started making the jokes he usually makes with Chani, has stopped talking in fragments, has figured out how to not blush so heavily under Taeyang’s gaze. It’s progress. Taeyang may be a rich kid and a prep, but he’s sweet and kind and honest and so different from all of the rest of them.

There are so many little things about him that Hwiyoung is always fascinated to learn: he’s right-handed but draws better with his left hand, he can’t go to sleep if there’s music playing, he hates the taste of coffee but can’t function without caffeine. Taeyang is interesting, and maybe Hwiyoung is a little bit interested in him. Maybe.

“ – but whatever works, I guess, what do you think?” Taeyang is saying. “It’s up to you.”

Hwiyoung blinks. He’s totally zoned out. “Sorry, I – what were you saying?”

Taeyang glares at him, rolling his eyes dramatically, but there’s no heat behind it. “I asked if you wanted to call every time we have a test, so we can study together like this.” He smiles a little ruefully. “I know you don’t really need it, I’m just kind of stupid, so I totally get it if you don’t want to. I can figure something else out.”

“You’re not stupid, don’t say that,” Hwiyoung says quickly, defensive for reasons he can’t quite explain. Taeyang grins. “I know you just – it’s fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. We can study like this.”

Taeyang’s expression shifts to a softer version of his trademark sunshinesque smile, and Hwiyoung isn’t sure how to interpret it. “Okay. Okay, yeah, that’s good. I just don’t want to waste your time, you know?”

Hwiyoung can see the insecurity bleeding through those words, and he’s not sure Taeyang knows that he’s left himself wide open. He usually doesn’t do that. It’s not a wise move. “You’re not,” he insists. “I should review anyway. I don’t, usually. And – ”

He stops himself before he can finish his sentence, his cheeks flushing as he clamps his mouth shut. Taeyang smirks a little like he knows exactly what Hwiyoung had been about to say. “And?”

“And nothing,” Hwiyoung says.

“Not buying it,” Taeyang says, a wide grin splitting his face. “You just like talking to me, don’t you?”

Bingo.

Hwiyoung hadn’t thought it was possible to get any redder, but he’d been wrong. “No,” he says. It’s a weak attempt at denying it. He looks away, not meeting Taeyang’s eyes.

Taeyang laughs, and Hwiyoung feels his heart swell just a little. “Don’t worry, Hwi,” he says, “I like talking to you too.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> where was i for a month? i don’t know but this is another king of fillers enjoy

The math test is that Friday, and when Hwiyoung walks into class the next Monday, everyone’s papers are already sitting on their desks, flipped upside down. The seniors across the room are groaning and comparing scores, and Hwiyoung feels his heart drop as he makes his way to his desk at the back of the room. If the looks on the seniors’ faces are any indication, their test scores are terrible, which means that Hwiyoung’s probably isn’t much better.

“Hey,” he says to Taeyang, who’s already in his seat and looking over his test. “How’d you do?”

Taeyang grins at him. “Pretty well. Are you scared?”

Hwiyoung makes a face and slides into his seat, setting his backpack down and pulling out a blue pen. “Should I be?”

“Nah, you’re smart. You probably did fine.”

Taeyang starts scooting his desk closer, and Hwiyoung flips his test over. At the top of the paper is a neat  _ 100 _ written in bright red ink and a half-assed smiley face, and he feels his nerves settle although he’s not sure why he’s surprised. He’s not a bad tester, and he’s especially good at math. This was to be expected.

“Damn it, Hwi, you did better than me,” Taeyang says, peering at his paper, but he’s smiling. His test has a red  _ 92 _ and an even less aesthetically pleasing smiley face on it. “I can’t say I’m surprised, though, you’re like a little genius.”

“I’m almost your height!” Hwiyoung protests, but it falls on deaf ears as Mr. Kim clears his throat from the front of the classroom and leans back against the whiteboard, crossing his arms around his chest. Taeyang turns his attention to the teacher, although the ghost of his smile remains on his face.

“After grading your tests, I have to say I’m appalled,” Mr. Kim says, sweeping his eyes across the classroom and making uncomfortable eye contact with each and every student. “For the most part, your grades were dismal.”

Taeyang looks surprised, his eyes flickering back down at his and Hwiyoung’s tests. He’s wearing his glasses again today, and Hwiyoung thinks it’s adorable.

Mr. Kim pulls a sheet of paper out of his pocket and sighs, reading off of it. “On this test, there were two A’s, no B’s, two C’s, seven D’s, and eight… others,” he says, and Hwiyoung raises his eyebrows. He hadn’t thought it was that bad. “There’s no excusing your marks as the test being too difficult. We had one perfect score.”

The seniors are whispering to each other, probably speculating about who had the perfect score. Taeyang interlaces his fingers with Hwiyoung’s on top of his desk, and Hwiyoung feels his cheeks burn. Taeyang is grinning like he knows exactly what he’s doing; he probably does.

“Hopefully you’ll all learn from this and study better next time,” Mr. Kim says, sticking the paper back in his pocket. With that, he starts the lesson, but Hwiyoung isn’t really listening. Taeyang has leaned even closer, his head resting on Hwiyoung’s shoulder although he’s let go of his hand so that they can both take notes. At this point, Hwiyoung is just copying what Mr. Kim is writing, not quite hearing what he says.

Oh well. Hwiyoung has a textbook at home to relearn the lesson by himself, and he and Taeyang will review it before they test on it anyway, so it’s not like it really matters.

Taeyang shifts in his seat, and Hwiyoung only gets a second to be grateful the older boy’s head is off his shoulder before Taeyang is snaking his left arm around Hwiyoung’s waist, pulling him even closer. Hwiyoung has to actively shift his attention to not tensing up, but Taeyang doesn’t even falter in his note-taking. Mr. Kim spares them a glance and rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything about it, just keeps teaching the lesson. Hwiyoung tries not to fidget.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Taeyang whispers, glancing down at him. He still hasn’t stopped taking notes, but his grin from earlier is nowhere to be found. Hwiyoung quickly shakes his head.

“No, no, you’re fine,” he whispers back, trying not to be too obvious. Mr. Kim can’t hear them from all the way across the room – perks of sitting in the back row – but he can still see them, and Hwiyoung really doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of that man’s wrath. “I’m just – I don’t know. Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure?” Taeyang asks uncertainly, as if, despite all the teasing he’s been doing, he’s afraid that he’s taken it a step too far by having his arm around Hwiyoung. He starts to retract his arm, and impulsively Hwiyoung reaches out with his own left hand to interlock it with Taeyang’s.

Taeyang freezes for a second, clearly taken by surprise, before relaxing into it and tuning back into the lesson. “Okay,” he whispers, and he leans his head back onto Hwiyoung’s shoulder.

It’s a little bit of an awkward position, sitting shoulder to shoulder, holding each other’s hand with Taeyang’s arm still around Hwiyoung’s waist, but it’s nice. Taeyang is warm and soft and comfy, and who is Hwiyoung to deprive himself of some good platonic cuddles?

They don’t talk about it, but after that, Taeyang doesn’t ask before cuddling up to Hwiyoung at the start of class every day.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sigh this chapter’s hitting real close to home and i’m realizing this whole book is just me projecting
> 
> also sORRY i take forever to update and the chapters are so short tbh why do you guys follow-

Hwiyoung hasn’t even come to terms with his own feelings before he’s forced to come to terms with Taeyang’s. It’s Chani that tells him, but apparently everyone in school already knows, and the only reason Hwiyoung doesn’t is because he doesn’t pay attention to school gossip.

So Taeyang likes Juho. Chani tries to get a reaction out of Hwiyoung when he tells him – “What do you think, Hwiyoung? Don’t you see the major issue?” – but other than the fact that Juho is already clearly smitten with Seokwoo, Hwiyoung has no idea what Chani is talking about. Why would he have a problem with Taeyang liking Juho?

“You’re so oblivious,” Chani says when Hwiyoung asks him that. He’s rolling his eyes and everything in true Chani fashion. It’s mildly annoying.

“Oblivious about what?” Hwiyoung asks. “Do you think I’m homophobic or something? Do I act like I am? Because I’m really  – ”

“Hwiyoung, you whore, you’re gay, you came out to me like two years ago,” Chani says, then says. “My God, you’re dumb. I don’t even know how you got into BC Calc.”

“Thanks,” Hwiyoung says dryly.

“You’re welcome.”

“That means a lot coming from someone who didn’t get in.”

“Fuck off.”

Hwiyoung laughs it off and goes back to doing his homework. Chani is at the other end of his bed, reading his Psychology textbook, but clearly he’s not done talking, because he only reads a page or two before he looks back up and starts talking again.

“Hwi,” he says.

“Hm?”

“What do you think of Lee Dongmin and Jeon Jeongguk and Kim Yugyeom?”

Hwiyoung looks up from his math homework. “They’re nice, I guess. Why?”

“They’re part of the rich-kid crowd, right?” Chani says. “You used to hate all of them.”

“No I didn’t,” Hwiyoung says. “I just didn’t really know them. A lot of people said they were fake and I didn’t know if that was true or not.”

“So what changed your mind?” Chani asks carefully.

“Taeyang-hyung,” Hwiyoung answers slowly. He’s starting to think Chani is only asking these questions to make a point, but he has no idea what his friend is getting at. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Taeyang-hyung seems to have become a huge influence on your life,” Chani says, suggestive.

“What?”

Chani sighs, clearly frustrated. “Never mind. You’re not getting it.”

“Clearly not,” Hwiyoung agrees. “It’s really hard to figure out what you’re trying to say when you’re talking in riddles.”

“What riddles?” Chani protests. “I’m making perfect sense!”

“You’re not making _any_ sense,” Hwiyoung argues. “Why are you so concerned about me and Taeyang-hyung anyway? If you’re trying to be protective, you don’t have to be. He’s only ever been nice to me.”

“I know that,” Chani says crossly, like Hwiyoung’s got it all wrong. If he has, it’s Chani’s fault for being so damn confusing. “You know what, never mind. You suck at this.”

“At what?” Hwiyoung asks helplessly.

His phone buzzes just as he stops talking, and with a final glance at Chani he leans over his textbook to look at the message.

 **from: Taeyang** hey are u doing anything this sat??

“Is it Taeyang-hyung?” Chani asks, giving Hwiyoung a knowing look.

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“You have this really dumb-looking smile on your face,” Chani says. “You always do that when you’re talking to him.”

Hwiyoung blinks at him. “Okay?”

Chani sighs and goes back to his homework.

 **to: Taeyang** No why

 **to: Taeyang** Do you need something

 **from: Taeyang** kind of?? not really

 **from: Taeyang** ok so i have a dance competition thing on sat and i was wondering if u wanted to come??

 **from: Taeyang** just if u want to

 **from: Taeyang** u don’t have to 

Hwiyoung is a little surprised by that. Why wouldn’t he want to come? Taeyang knows Hwiyoung actually enjoys spending time with him, right?

 **to: Taeyang** No yeah that sounds great I’d love to

 **from: Taeyang** really??

 **from: Taeyang** u can be honest,, if u don’t want to come i won’t be offended or anything

 That’s.. mildly heartbreaking. Hwiyoung frowns.

 **to: Taeyang** Hyung

 **to: Taeyang** I do want to come with you

 **to: Taeyang** We’re friends aren’t we

It takes a minute for Taeyang to text back, which would be perfectly normal for anyone else. For him, it’s a little out of the ordinary, because he always responds to Hwiyoung’s texts immediately. Hwiyoung wonders what that’s all about.

Maybe he’s busy texting Juho at the same time; that’s probably all it is. Hwiyoung feels bad that Taeyang likes someone who doesn’t like him back, because Taeyang is the human embodiment of sunshine and he deserves the entire world. Hwiyoung doesn’t have the world to give to him, but he would willingly give Taeyang everything he has in a heartbeat.

 **from: Taeyang** okay

 **from: Taeyang** okay that’s great! i can pick u up if that’s ok with u

 **to: Taeyang** Yeah that’d be great thank you

 **from: Taeyang** hssknd im so excited!! thank u so much ur the greatest 

“You’re doing the dumb face again,” Chani says.

Hwiyoung throws a pillow at him.

Chani makes an indignant noise. “Hey, you don’t have to be a bitch about it! I was just making an observation!”

“You can take your observations and shove them up your dick,” Hwiyoung says.

“You first, you whore,” Chani says.

Hwiyoung throws another pillow at him. Chani throws it back and they end up waging a full-on pillow war, homework and textbooks forgotten.


End file.
